Digimon: Dragonheart
by Berry Doyle
Summary: Just after transferring to a new school, Mirai and four friends are thrust into the Digital World to protect it from a mysterious virus. Now she must learn to lead her team and navigate middle school while guarding all the secrets that just seem to keep piling up around her. But when the virus strikes close to home, the consequences of failure might be more than she can handle.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Now don't give your mom or Zoya any trouble, you hear?" Shinya Hisakawa reminded his daughter as he pulled on his shoes.

"I never do," Mirai Hisakawa assured him.

"Almost never," Kenji Hisakawa teased, ruffling his daughter's hair. She pouted at him, feeling her head to make sure that her buns were still mostly in place. He turned to a woman with messy brown hair. "Sorry again for imposing on you guys for a whole two months."

"Imposing-shmosing. She's my daughter, too, you know," the woman replied.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Shinya asked Mirai for what must have been the tenth time that day.

"I'm sure, Papa," Mirai said, crossing her arms. "It's not like this is the first time you've gone away for a work trip."

"It is the longest we'll have been gone. Two months is a long time."

"And we're going to miss your first day of middle school. I wish we could leave a few days later, but there wasn't anything we could do about it," Kenji added. He was extremely disappointed that he was going to miss such a big step in his little angel's life. Luckily for him, her mother was more than happy to help on that front.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to take tons of photos and send them to you tomorrow," she promised.

"Mama!" Mirai shouted in protest. "That's embarrassing!"

"Why don't you run upstairs and finish unpacking, Mirai? I'm sure Chassy will be happy to help," her mother said, turning her towards the stairs.

"Oh! Right! Bye Dad, bye Papa!" Mirai said, hugging them one last time before running upstairs to her new bedroom. She immediately jumped on to her bed, excited for the next two months. This had always been her room whenever she came to visit this side of her family, but this was the first time that she was really going to be staying there for a significant length of time. Even better, she would finally be able to go to school with her sister!

She had to remind herself that Chassy was two years older and would thus be in a different class, but it was still exciting. Even better, she knew that a few family friends went there, too. One of them was her age, and she hoped that he would be able to help her make friends. Who knew what kind of fun adventures she would get to have now that she was in middle school? The possibilities were endless!

It seemed that her mother was equally excited, as she spent the entire next morning taking pictures of Mirai and Chassy in their school uniforms. Pair shots, single shots, this pose, that pose, it ended up going for so long that not only did she forget to do morning martial arts practice with them, they had to run to make it to school with enough time to find out their new class assignments.

Once they found their names on the class lists, Chassy directed Mirai to class 1-B and left for her own class. Suddenly, without her sister's guidance, Mirai felt very small and very alone. Taking a deep breath, she walked into her classroom, scraping up every last little bit of confidence she could in order to not look nervous on her first day. It was bad enough that she was probably a little stinky from her run. She was not about to appear a coward.

She scanned the room for an open seat, when she noticed a boy eagerly waving to her over by the windows. Recognizing him, she moved into the open seat next to him.

"Taki! I'm so glad you're in my class. I was a little worried I wouldn't know anyone."

"Not to worry!" He said, flashing a cheeky grin. "I'll make sure to introduce you to my friends. There're a lot of people here from my elementary school, so you'll have plenty of friends in no time. I can show you around the neighborhood, too."

"Oh, Chassy already has that covered. She's going to take me on a little tour after school today. But I'm sure you could come if you wanted," Mirai smiled at him. Although they had talked online, it had been over a year since she had actually seen Taki. It would be nice to hang out with him a little outside of school.

When lunch rolled around, Taki wanted to go meet up with some of his friends, so Mirai decided to hang back and try to make friends with her new classmates. Just as he disappeared down the hallway, she heard a very small, shy voice from behind her. Turning around, she was greeted by a small girl with bobbed brown hair fiddling with her lunchbox.

"Um… would you like to eat lunch together?" the girl asked, holding up her lunchbox almost like a shield between herself and Mirai.

"Of course! You're… Chika Koeno, right?"

The girl nodded and gestured for them to sit at her desk. They made some introductory small-talk, mostly talking about their previous schools.

"I noticed that you seemed really friendly with Taki," Chika said at last, once she was a little more comfortable talking to Mirai. "How do you know him?"

"Huh? Oh, our parents are good friends, so we've sort of grown up together. Like a cousin, or something. What about you? Are you friends with him, too?"

"Oh, no, not really. We've been in the same class for a few years, but I've never really gotten up the courage to talk to him. He's really cool and always surrounded by lots of people, you know?"

"Hmm… if you say so," Mirai said, taking a bite of her lunch. Sure, Taki was charismatic, but she would never describe him as "really cool," at least not after she saw him fall in the toilet when they were five. She then noticed the light dusting of pink on Chika's cheeks, and it clicked. She grinned. "Would you like me to help you talk to him?"

"Would you?" Chika asked, looking hopeful and a good deal redder. "It's not really a big deal…"

"It is, too!" Mirai protested. "He's just a normal guy, I swear. I'm new to town, so he and my sister are going to show me around after school. I'm sure you're more than welcome to come, if you want. I figure you'll be more comfortable in a group."

"Are you sure I won't just be intruding?"

"It's fine! After all, we're friends now, right?"

Chika gave her a small smile that Mirai took as a yes. She was very excited that she not only had a new friend, but that said new friend had a crush. She would do whatever it took to make sure that "Operation: Win Taki's Heart" (as she had decided to call it) would be a success.

Her sister was waiting for her by the gate after school, and Operation: Win Taki's Heart met its first obstacle when Mirai called out to her. Chika, who Mirai had in tow, came to a screeching halt.

"That… Chastity Takara is your sister?" Chika asked in shock.

"You didn't know? Oh, I guess the different last names don't help…" Mirai trailed off, not really wanting to get into her unusual family structure. "Is that a problem?"

"'Is that a problem?'" Chika echoed with panic. "She's easily the most popular and beautiful girl in school! You should have said something!"

"Oh, I guess I didn't realize she was that popular," Mirai said. Looking around, she noticed the way all the boys in the school yard seemed to be paying attention to Chassy, who was poised as always and seemingly oblivious to the attention on her. Her light brown hair managed to reach her knees despite being pulled back with a ribbon, and her skin was enviously clear for a middle-school student. Mirai recoiled a bit when she realized her sister looked like she stepped out of a high school dating sim. "She's really not as perfect as she seems, I swear."

"There you are!" Taki interrupted, slapping Mirai on the back as she jumped in surprise. Trailing behind him was one of their other friends, a boy named Jonah. If Mirai remembered correctly, he should be in Chassy's year. She had only met him once, but his piercing red eyes were unmistakable. "We've been looking for you. Oh, is Koeno joining us, too?"

"Nope! I'm afraid I just remembered something I have to do. Um, er, see you tomorrow, Mirai!" Chika very nearly shouted as she ran in the opposite direction.

"What was that about?" Taki asked no one in particular. "Well, Koeno has always been kinda weird…" he started to say, but jerked back when he caught sight of Mirai's annoyed pout.

"Did you have to go and scare off my new friend?" she asked, exasperated.

"I didn't do anything!"

"Are you dense? You do not startle the shy girl! Honestly."

Jonah watched Chika go, his eyes narrowing at her retreating form. They flicked to Mirai and Taki only at the mention of Chika's shyness. From there he caught sight of Chassy heading their way and scooping up another boy while she was at it. As neither of his companions had taken notice of Chassy's calls over their bickering, he grabbed their heads and turned them towards her.

Mirai, now that she was facing her sister, watched the newest boy with curiosity. He seemed a little uncomfortable next to Chassy, constantly glancing around at the other boys who regarded him with envy. He was especially nervous once he was closer and his eyes landed on Jonah. Jonah, however, ignored him, so he relaxed and ran up to Taki's side.

"Joining us after all, Haruki?" Taki asked, tossing an arm over the new boy's shoulder. Haruki playfully shoved him.

"I can't exactly say 'no' to Chastity in front of the entire school," Haruki joked. "I'd be eaten alive. Besides, studying can wait if it means I get to finally meet this girl you won't shut up about."

Taki blushed and avoided Mirai's questioning look as he pushed Haruki away a little more forcefully than he meant to. Haruki laughed it off and turned to Mirai.

"You must be Mirai," Haruki said, offering his hand. "I'm Haruki, Taki's best friend from elementary school. I hope you don't mind me tagging along this afternoon."

"Not at all! I hope we can be friends," Mirai said, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake.

"Me, too," Haruki said with a smile, then leaned in to whisper, "I promise he hasn't said anything bad. He's just been really excited to get to see his 'super-kick-ass cousin' on a regular basis."

"Are we going, or what?" Jonah asked, and Mirai had to suppress a jolt at how deep his voice was. It seemed puberty had hit him hard since they first met. "Since it looks like everyone's here."

"Right, let's get this show on the road!" Taki cheered. "Lead the way, Chastity!"

The town was bigger than Mirai had ever realized from her previous visits, where she had mostly been restricted to her immediate neighborhood. Chassy guided them around the neighborhood, pointing out places she and Jonah liked to eat after school. Mirai wanted to stop for some ice cream, but Chassy refused, saying that their mother would probably put them through the ringer once they were home to make up for skipping practice that morning.

"Practice?" Haruki asked.

"Mama teaches us martial arts," Mirai explained. "She's a strong believer in practicing every day, barring physical incapacitation."

"Think you'll join one of the martial arts clubs?" Taki asked, folding his hands behind his head and walking backwards.

"Dunno. What about you?"

"I was thinking of trying out for the soccer club, but I haven't really decided yet." Taki's eyes slid over to Haruki, who understood that the question had been passed to him.

"Cooking club is my first pick," Haruki said. This took the others by surprise, but Mirai's only thought was that this meant she would get to try a bunch of delicious food. Haruki shifted a bit under everyone's stares. "I'm interested in nutrition, so…"

Taki stared at him harder, his brow beginning to furrow, and Mirai got the feeling that he would be talking privately to his friend later, although about what she could only guess. She hoped he didn't think it was too "girly" or anything, because if that was the case then he would be having a private conversation with her fist.

"As good a reason as any," Jonah said. "And since we're all sharing, I'm not in any clubs. Group activities aren't my thing."

An uncomfortable silence followed his statement, as everyone became acutely aware that this little jaunt of theirs was just that. Taking note of the atmosphere, Chassy resumed her role as tour guide. She directed them into a park, explaining how just a few days prior it had been filled with families squeezing in their annual cherry blossom viewing before the start of the new school year. Even now, the trees were filled with the tiny flowers.

"So you do martial arts, too?" Haruki asked Chassy as they meandered through the park. "Why aren't you in a martial arts club?"

"I'm not really that passionate about it," Chassy laughed. "It's just something our mother wants us to know. I much prefer being in the dance club."

"Yeah, Mama is always saying that we need to be prepared for anything. I don't know what she thinks is going to happen, though."

As if on cue, lights burst from the pockets of the five teens. Mirai reached into her pocket, and, wrapping her hand around the only thing she found, pulled out her cell phone. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her friends doing the same. The light from their phones intensified until it completely engulfed them. She kept a death-grip on her phone even as it seemed to warp against her hand. A sudden pull was the last thing she felt before everything went numb.

* * *

"Hey, hey. Are you okay?"

Mirai groaned as she came to, sore and disoriented as she was. The ground underneath her was soft, and she almost thought she had fallen on the park grass, had her nose not told her otherwise. The air was too warm and humid for early spring, and it was heavy with a floral aroma that was definitely not cherry blossoms. Alarmed, and vaguely remembering the voice that woke her up, she forced her eyes open, and was met with a pair of worried, red, reptilian eyes.

Mirai blinked, slowly processing the situation. A small dragon of some sort was bent over her and growing increasingly concerned the longer she failed to answer. The dragon was blue with a white underbelly and red wings and horns. Mirai had never met a dragon, but she had always assumed they would be larger. Maybe this was a very young dragon. Oh, but it had asked her a question, hadn't it?

"I think so. Everything is attached, at least." This seemed to relieve the dragon, so Mirai turned her attention to her surroundings. It almost looked like a jungle. Something nagged at the back of her mind, telling her that this was all very familiar. She cautiously sat up. "Where am I?"

"Genesee Jungle."

"Um, where is that? I've never heard of it."

The dragon looked thoughtful, then replied, "It's a jungle on the edge of Lunaria."

"Yeah, not familiar with that either."

"What? But Lunaria is one of the biggest lands in the Digital World."

"That's what I needed! I'm not sure what the Digital World is, but I can at least guess that I'm not on Earth."

"Then… are you a human? I've never met a human before; I've only heard stories."

"Oh, um, I suppose I am. I guess this means you haven't seen my friends."

The dragon shook its head sadly.

"No, you're the only human I've seen." It suddenly brightened up. "I can help you look for them, if you want! Since you don't know your way around the Digital World."

"That would be great! Oh, my name is Mirai, by the way." Mirai stuck out her hand, which the dragon happily shook.

"I'm Dracomon! I'm a Digimon."

"A Digimon, huh?" Mirai muttered. Now that was definitely familiar, but she still found herself unable to figure out why. She knew she had heard that word before, but the question was where. She shook her head, deciding to worry about it later. What mattered right now was finding her friends and trying to find a way home. She stood up and brushed herself off, glad that her uniform had not gotten terribly dirty, and smiled down at her new friend. "Right then, lead the way, Dracomon!"

"Right!" The little dragon cheered. He turned to lead the way, but only went a few steps before his face fell a little. "Um, do you know how you got here? The jungle is actually pretty big. I don't really know where to start."

"Oh, good question," Mirai said, thinking back. The last thing she remembered was getting engulfed in light, her phone in her hand... "My phone!"

"Your phone?" Dracomon asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Yeah, our phones started glowing all of a sudden. It was in my hand before I blacked out." She checked her pockets first but was unsurprised when it turned up missing. Looking around, she finally noticed a strange blue device lying next to where she had fallen and went to pick it up. It was a little bigger than her phone and felt in some ways to be more rugged, as though it had a particularly thick case. However, the screen was shorter, apparently to make room for the large button on the bottom.

Cautiously, she pressed what, on her phone, would have been the power button on the side. The device came to life, the lock screen picture of her with her parents smiling up at her. Poking through it, it was clear that one way or another, this was, or had been, her phone. Her contacts, photos, and downloads were all there, but none of her apps seemed to be working; in fact, most of them were greyed out. She almost attempted to call her sister but noticed that she had no signal.

Dracomon came over and sniffed the device curiously. "Is it your phone?"

"It was, at least," Mirai said, confused. "Well, I can worry about it later. Finding the others comes first."

"You never finished telling me what happened," Dracomon reminded her.

"Well, there was the light, and then I felt weird and blacked out. Next thing I know I'm here with you."

"Hmm... Well, then hopefully your friends are nearby! But if we can't find them then I'll show you the village."

Off the two of them went, looking through the jungle for other humans. As large as the jungle was, it was clearly well-traversed, with paths and clearings cutting through the underbrush in all directions. Mirai was glad that Dracomon had been the one to find her, as he was very friendly and eager to share all he could think to tell her about the Digital World. Periodically she would stop him to call out for her friends, and Dracomon would mimic her. It took a few tries before they had any luck.

"Oi! Mirai!" Mirai heard. Turning to the right, she saw Taki making his way through the undergrowth. A smile broke across her face as she waved to him.

"Taki! Hey!"

"Now you see, I told you we'd find someone," said a voice from the brush. A white weasel-like creature with purple markings popped out in front of her. It turned its head back towards Taki, eagerly waiting for him to catch up. Taki scowled, which Mirai thought incredibly rude, until she realized he must have stepped somewhere he shouldn't. He kicked his leg around, freeing it from some sort of vine.

"What's a Kudamon doing here?" Dracomon asked, sniffing at the newcomer suspiciously. This time, the creature was definitely offended, as it reared up a little. Dracomon backpedaled but remained on guard. "Kudamon aren't exactly common, and I know for a fact that you don't live in the village."

"I live up the mountain, thank you very much," said the little Digimon, indignant. "And I could say the same about you. I thought Dracomon were all but extinct."

"I'm not extinct!" Dracomon protested.

"Now, now, be nice, you two," Mirai said, feeling incredibly awkward. "Kudamon helped Taki out, so we should at least be polite."

"Fine," Dracomon pouted. "But if you live up the mountain, what were you doing down here? It's not exactly easy to get to from where you were."

Kudamon looked thoughtful then, as though he was choosing his words carefully.

"There was a... pull. Like something was calling to me," Kudamon said slowly. "I cautiously followed it down here, into the jungle. I found Taki not long after."

"You too?" Dracomon asked, which caused Mirai to give him a strange look. "That's kinda how I found Mirai."

"Oh, I don't believe we've been properly introduced. My name is Kudamon. I am a Holy Beast Digimon. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I'm Mirai. Nice to meet you, Kudamon." Mirai gave Kudamon a smile. Taki, who had finally made it onto the path with the rest of them, shifted uncomfortably. Mirai gave him a sympathetic look. He turned away abruptly when he noticed, somewhat loudly introducing himself to Dracomon as he plastered a smile on his face. If Mirai hadn't known him for so long, it might have been convincing.

A loud buzzing drew their attention overhead. Both Dracomon and Kudamon tensed, scanning the sky for the source. A shadow fell on the path, and Mirai tracked it upwards to a trio of monstrously large bees. She was not normally afraid of bees, or even wasps, preferring to ignore them as she knew they would leave her alone if she did the same, but the stingers on these things were larger than her head and a bright, angry red that sent her instincts screaming of danger. It was a miracle that she could hold still, hoping that they would pass by without incident.

One of the bees looked down and quickly redirected its comrades' attentions to them. Kudamon gave the order to run, taking the lead as the most agile of the four. Dracomon, more familiar with the jungle, shouted directions, doing his best to keep in mind the human's larger size. The buzzing was relentless behind them. They came upon a ravine, driving Kudamon to a screeching halt.

"Jump, just trust me!" Dracomon shouted. Kudamon gave him a look that asked if he was stupid but didn't have time to actually argue as the humans plowed ahead. Mirai, a few steps ahead of Taki, could judge that the ravine itself was not too deep and that jumping would not leave either of them with more than a few cuts or bruises. She jumped.

Taki followed after her, and the two immediately saw why Dracomon had led them there. Cut out of the ravine's edge was a small cave, just big enough to hide in. They ducked inside, relieved when Kudamon and Dracomon joined them moments later. They huddled together, pressed as far back as they could manage, and listened as the buzzing came closer. Mirai held her breath as she watched the shadows pass through the ravine. They buzzed around the area long enough that Mirai worried that they would be found. Taki was enviously and unnervingly still next to her, almost like he wasn't there at all.

The shadows finally disappeared, and the buzzing with it. They stayed hidden for a few more minutes, just to be safe, but once it became clear that their pursuers had moved on, Mirai released a huge sigh of relief.

"What were those?" Mirai asked, her eyes sharp, searching the sky as she eased herself out of the cave.

"Flymon," Dracomon answered. "They're nasty. Their poison stingers can be deadly."

Mirai swallowed a lump in her throat, not sure how she felt about how deadly that encounter could have been. Suddenly she found herself grateful for her mother's (and father's) seemingly unreasonable need to prepare her for anything.

"I'm worried about Haruki," Taki said. Mirai was struck by how much his nerves seemed to permeate the air, especially after how still and seemingly calm he had been. "Jonah and Chassy can take care of themselves, but Haruki..."

Is an ordinary kid, Mirai suspected was the rest of that sentence, if it wasn't doesn't have paranoid parents.

"Then let's start looking again," Mirai declared. She clambered out of the ravine, reaching down to help pull Taki up with her. Dracomon fluttered his little wings, racing Kudamon to the top. Mirai watched them in amusement, a part of her itching to find something to compete with Taki over. One look at him, however, and the concern all over his face, and she changed her mind. "Think the others have met up with Digimon, too?"

Taki relaxed then, shifting his attention to the Digimon who were now bickering over who had won, neither agreeing on what counted as the finish line. He regarded them thoughtfully.

"Probably. I somehow doubt that us meeting these guys immediately after we were thrown into this world was an accident."

Mirai hummed, thinking that the sense of familiarity was growing and growing but she just could not place it. It sort of felt like something out of a video game.

"Regardless, I'm sure Haruki is fine. He keeps up with the walking disaster that is you, after all," Mirai teased. Taki made a grumpy little grumble of protest, but his eyes were smiling. It made her heart soar. She didn't know what she would do with a worrywart Taki.

"I am not a walking disaster," he argued. "But you're right, Haruki does keep up with me. Anything I can take he can probably take, too."

Mirai wanted to argue, point out a giant flaw in the logic, but Taki's mood had improved and cautious optimism seemed like the best option in the face of the unknown.

"If your friends have probably also met up with Digimon, then we should head to the village," Dracomon said. "I bet that's where they'd go. To talk to the village elder."

"Sounds like a plan!" Mirai said, gesturing for Dracomon to lead the way. Once they started walking, Mirai turned to Taki, and asked, "What kind of Digimon do you think Haruki met up with?"

Dracomon and Kudamon glanced back at them, apparently curious to see what Taki's answer would be. He looked to the sky, turning the question over in his head. He glanced down at the Digimon in front of him before he answered.

"I'm not too sure. Someone friendly, I guess. Haruki can be friends with anyone, so hopefully someone like that."

"Not knocking Haruki here, but are you sure that isn't you?" Mirai asked. "From what I saw at school today, you attract people everywhere you go."

Taki looked about to boast, cocky grin spreading across his face, when a shout caught their attention.

"Leave him alone, you big jerk!"

"That was Haruki's voice!" Taki said urgently, taking off like a shot in the direction he thought it came from. Mirai didn't need to be told twice and charged after Taki, the Digimon close on their heels. She easily caught up with him, and the two soon found themselves approaching a sizeable clearing, the rooftops of the village visible in the distance.

Haruki she saw first, his body awkwardly shielding a small pink Digimon. It looked like he couldn't quite decide whether to face his opponent head-on or to grab the little Digimon and run. Following his glare, she then saw a vaguely humanoid creature made up of rocks. It grinned maliciously at the two before it.

"Lookit little Crybaby Cutemon, unable to fight on his own," the rock-creature taunted. "But I'll make sure no one helps you again! Rock Fist!"

A barrage of rocks came flying from the creature, and Taki just barely managed to push Haruki and Cutemon out of the way in time.

"Gotsumon, what's gotten into you? I thought we were friends!" Cutemon cried from Haruki's arms as Taki checked the two over for any serious injury.

"Why would I ever want to be friends with a wimpy crybaby like you?" Cutemon began to cry harder, and Gotsumon smirked. "Rock Fist!"

"Dangan Senpu!" Kudamon shouted as he spun and smacked the rocks away with the cartridge attached to the end of his tail. He positioned himself between his friends and Gotsumon. Gotsumon stepped back, his annoyance plain on his face.

"Baby Breath!"

Gotsumon flinched at the attack, but it otherwise seemed ineffective. He turned his attention to Dracomon, his annoyance morphing into anger.

"Mind your own business, Dracomon! Crazy Crusher!" Gotsumon charged at Dracomon, his arms flailing wildly. Dracomon, not expecting to be rebuffed so quickly, was caught off-guard, and would have been hit if Mirai had not intercepted and caught Gotsumon's hands with her own. She grunted with the effort, and was a little surprised to discover that her opponent was made of actual rocks. Even then, she was surprised that something so small could have so much strength.

To her shock, Gotsumon became covered in a shadowy aura and began to grow, growling as he did so. Mirai quickly broke away. She and Dracomon scrambled to join the others.

"What did you do!?" Taki asked her as she pulled up next to him.

"I have no idea!" She watched in fright as the shadowy aura disappeared, leaving an unfamiliar Digimon in its wake. This one also seemed to be made of rocks, but was far larger than Gotsumon and more of a yellow-brown. "I didn't mean to, I swear!"

"He digivolved into Golemon," Cutemon explained, his voice quivering. "But that wasn't normal!"

Golemon fixed them all with a hard stare and started to stalk forward. Dracomon and Kudamon valiantly stepped forward, ready to meet the much larger Digimon head-on. Mirai did a quick scan of the area, realizing to her dismay that they were backed up against foliage dense enough to prevent escape. Mirai shared a look with Taki, the two confirming that they would back the little guys up if it came to it. After all, they didn't have much of a choice.

"Sulfur-"

"Mirai!"

Mirai whipped her attention to where she heard her sister's voice, only for Chassy to rush in and slide underneath Golemon. As she passed under Golemon, she held up something that looked like a large flower.

"Rain of Pollen!"

A pollen cloud erupted in Golemon's face, and he reared back, coughing and spluttering from the spores. Out of the corner of her eye, Mirai saw her sister skid to a stop and place what she now saw was a flower Digimon on the ground, where it took a protective stance. Mirai's group took the opportunity to move away from the clearing edge and surround Golemon.

"Is he... slowing down?" Haruki asked. Mirai looked, and sure enough, Golemon was shaking his head and blinking, as though in confusion.

"That's the idea!" the flower Digimon said. "Pandamon! You're on!"

A stuffed panda, about the size of the other Digimon, burst from the trees and struck the gazed Golemon with his palm. Already a little off-balance, Golemon toppled over from the strike to his torso, crashing onto his back. Jonah stepped into the clearing, his stern expression mirroring Pandamon's.

"Looks like it's not over yet," he said, indicating the shadowy aura starting to flicker around Golemon.

"I won't let you!" Dracomon cried. "Tail Smash!"

Mirai winced as Dracomon's tail impacted with Golemon's face, knocking the other Digimon unconscious. The aura started to weaken, but did not disappear.

"What are we going to-" Haruki started to ask, only to be cut off by a high-pitched screeching. Mirai looked down to the source of the sound, and saw a light coming from her pocket. Cautiously, she pulled the glowing device out of her pocket. A symbol she didn't recognize was displayed on the screen, but she barely noticed it as instinct drove her to press the unknown button at the bottom and then turn the screen towards Golemon.

Light flooded out of the screen, and the shadowy aura dissolved against the relentless light. Golemon shrank back into Gotsumon, and the light slowly died away. Mirai looked between the unconscious Gotsumon and her device, now thoroughly convinced that even if it was her phone once, it wasn't anymore.

"We did it!" Dracomon cheered. "That was so cool, Mirai! How'd you do it?"

"I'm not sure," Mirai muttered, examining the device all over. "I acted on instinct."

The other humans and Digimon gathered around her, equal parts celebratory and confused. Mirai only half-paid attention, as she was more interested in the mysterious device in her hands.

"I'm glad everyone is safe," Chassy said. "I was really worried."

"Looks like everyone met a Digimon, too," Taki observed. Leaning down to be level with the Digimon in Haruki's arms, he asked, "So you're Cutemon, huh?"

"Y-yes. Thank you all for saving me," Cutemon said, bashful.

"Don't mention it," Haruki said, giving Cutemon a small smile as he carefully pet the back of his head. "I couldn't just sit by and watch you get bullied."

"I'm a little worried about Gotsumon," Cutemon said. He hopped out of Haruki's arms and walked over to inspect the fallen Digimon. "He's not normally that mean. Oh, I should probably heal that bump on his head."

Cutemon began to emit a small light from his hands, the impact marks (Mirai didn't see a "bump," per se) slowly disappearing from Gotsumon. Dracomon joined them, watching the process with interest.

"Where did you even get that thing?" Taki asked Mirai, looking at the device curiously.

"I think it was my phone," Mirai said. "It has all my contacts and stuff. What about you guys?"

"Oh, come to think of it, my phone had the same thing happen to it," Haruki said, fishing out a similar pinkish-red device from his back pocket. The other kids all followed suit, discovering their own devices. They all looked identical, save the colors: Taki's was violet, Chassy's green, and Jonah's black.

"Think we can all do that thing Mirai did?" Taki wondered out loud, beginning to inspect his own device. "Was it an app?"

Across the clearing, Gotsumon began to stir, prompting the other Digimon to surround him, just in case he became violent again. He sat up slowly, massaging his head where Dracomon had hit him.

"Most of my apps are greyed out. Oh, but I don't recognize this app..." Mirai said, pressing something on the device.

There was a flash of light, and the next thing the Digimon knew, the five humans had disappeared.

* * *

Mirai was not sure whether or not she was glad that she remained mostly conscious this time. The pull had not been quite as strong this time, but it was still incredibly disorienting. Her sense of up and down twisted, she had no time to process that the light deposited her back in the park a couple feet off the ground. She hoped there was no one around to see her appear out of thin air and then promptly fall over on the ground. Even worse, she soon felt the weight of four other middle schoolers pile up on her back.

There were many dazed and confused grunts, as everyone processed what just happened. To Mirai's dismay, no one seemed to be making the obvious move to separate.

"EVERYONE GET OFF!"

Chassy, who hand landed closest to the top, carefully extracted herself from the pile, helping Jonah as she went. Haruki got up easily enough, but then had to catch Taki as Mirai threw him off of her when he failed to move fast enough. Once everyone was re-settled, they looked to each other with only one question.

"What just happened?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"How was your first day of school?" Zoya asked when Mirai and Chassy returned that evening. "You're home later than I expected. I hope you weren't stuffing your faces with ice cream."

"Mom, I'm more responsible than that," Chassy said with a slight whine. "Our tour just got delayed a bit, because we had Jonah and Taki and one of his friends with us."

It was the best excuse they had been able to come up with on their short walk home. It was flimsy, sure, but on the off-chance Zoya mentioned it to the other families, the fact that they were all late would at least match up.

"Well, so long as you had fun and neither of you has much homework, it's fine." Zoya turned back to the food on the stove, trusting that the girls would share about school if they wanted. Chassy disappeared upstairs to her bedroom, leaving Mirai to follow Zoya into the combined family room and kitchen.

"School was good," Mirai said. She leaned her bag against the wall and plopped down on the couch. "I think I already made a friend, but everyone else might have scared her away. I don't think she's good around lots of people."

"Taki's mother was like that in school. She was positively terrified of Taeko at first."

"She was afraid of Mama?" Mirai asked. This was news to her. "Why? Did they meet on the battlefield or something? I don't see how else Mama could be scary."

"Nothing like that," Zoya said with an awkward laugh. "Taeko stared at her a lot when she first transferred into our class. She was just curious about the new girl, but Nagisa thought she had done something wrong. But obviously they're close friends now, so hopefully it will be the same with your new friend."

"I hope so. Chika seemed really nice." Mirai said as she skimmed the shelves of movies and games in the living room. None of them looked like what she wanted, so after a moment to steel herself, she asked, "By the way, where is Mama?"

"Still at work, I think. She should be home for dinner. Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to ask her something."

"Something you can ask me?"

"Maybe, but I'll just wait until she's home so I don't have to ask twice."

"That's fine," Zoya said, throwing a glance Mirai's direction. Her eyes landed on the bag, and she fought back a sigh. "Why don't you put your bag away and wash up so you can help me with dinner?"

Mirai complied, a little embarrassed that she had been so distracted that she had neglected to put her bag away. Upstairs in her room, she leaned her bag against her desk and quickly changed out of her uniform, looking it up and down for any noticeable stains. There was a bit of dirt on the back of the skirt, but nothing she thought would require too much explaining. She made to leave, but then paused in the doorway to look back at her phone on her desk. After a moment's hesitation, she picked it up and slid it into her pocket, deciding it was safer to keep it on her after everything that had happened.

Once they had returned, Chassy had been quick to try to pass the entire experience off as a mass hallucination or a dream. Mirai and Haruki pointed out their scratches and scuff marks as proof that _something_ had happened and now, as Mirai scrubbed her hands in the bathroom, she was relieved to see that most of the damage was easily passed off as the result of a trip on the pavement. In the end, it had been Jonah who pointed out that they just needed to look at their phones.

Everyone, even Chassy, had been surprised to see that their phones looked totally normal. Mirai turned hers on, hoping to see the unfamiliar app that had brought them home, but never got far enough to look. There, next to the basic phone and contact apps on the home screen, was an unknown app. The symbol looked like a stylized version of the device she had had in the Digital World. It was labeled "Digivice."

"Digimon, Digital World, Digivice?" Taki chuckled as he looked over her shoulder. "That's some naming sense."

"Wait, wait! Digivice? Mama has something like that, right? From one of her shows!"

"Now that you mention it, it sounds familiar. It's one of her favorites, too, I think," Chassy said, trying to remember. "Now that I think of it, it might just be called 'Digimon'."

"Are you suggesting we ended up in a TV show?" Jonah asked, incredulous.

"We should talk about this tomorrow," Haruki said, checking the time. "Do we want to try to get back to the Digital World tomorrow?"

There was a round of agreement before they all went their separate ways. Mirai had hoped that she would get the chance to discuss the whole experience a little bit with her sister, but when she re-entered the kitchen she saw that Chassy had also been roped into helping with dinner. She would just have to wait a little longer.

"Mama, what was that show I used to watch when I'd come over when I was little?" Mirai asked at dinner after Taeko had returned home. "Digi-something, right?"

Chassy nearly choked on her food, needing to down an entire glass of water to calm herself. Oops, Mirai had forgotten to give Chassy something like a warning. Play it cool.

"You okay, sis?"

"Fine," Chassy gasped. "Swallowed wrong," she explained lamely. Luckily, it seemed Taeko, at least, was still more focused on the question.

"Digimon, yeah," Taeko said just as she gulped down her own food. The sparkle in her eye was even stronger than the one she got when talking martial arts with her dad, and it unnerved Mirai just a little. "Why?"

"Do you still have it?"

"Do I still… well, of course I do! It was my favorite show as a kid. I have all the seasons, and some of the old games packed away somewhere, too. Want to watch the show together after dinner? We can start with the original _Digimon Adventure_. Oh, I should go dig out some of my old toys to show you!"

Suddenly Mirai wondered how she could have forgotten. Her mother had all kinds of merchandise for it, much to Zoya's chagrin. Mirai had once been rooting through a drawer in the master bedroom when she found one of the toys. It must have been a special model or version or something, because it was one of the few times her Mama had yelled at her in anger, telling her that it was not a toy and she shouldn't have been in that drawer anyway. Zoya came to her defense, but it had left her wary of the show and her Mama's toys after that.

"Actually, I was wondering if Chassy and I could watch it in her room," Mirai said nervously. Her mother visibly deflated.

"We want to watch it without commentary," Chassy said, giving their mother a pointed look. Taeko looked like she was about to protest, but Zoya was faster.

"Let them make their own opinions, dear. You come on a little strong," she said, elbowing her wife. To the girls, she added, "Just don't stay up all night, and don't let it get in the way of your homework down the road."

"We won't," Chassy promised.

"So where do we start?" Mirai asked once they were settled in Chassy's room.

"Episode 1, I assume," Chassy said, giving her a weird look. She was already pulling up the menu screen.

"No, no, I mean about this afternoon," Mirai clarified, keeping her voice low. "We haven't talked about what happened before we met up in the fight against Golemon."

Chassy let the menu animations play and started to explain. Mirai learned the flower Digimon with Chassy was called Floramon, and that their experience was not dissimilar to hers and Dracomon's. They had met up with Jonah and Pandamon on their way to the village. When they had heard the sounds of battle, Pandamon had insisted they go help, and off they went.

"Do you... think we should tell Mama?" Chassy asked, looking in the direction of her parents' bedroom hesitantly.

"No way," Mirai answered immediately. "There's no way she wouldn't tell Dad and Papa and they would never be okay with me running off somewhere so dangerous. Besides, she seems to take this show way too seriously."

Mirai forced the memory of her mother's angry yelling from her mind.

"What do you think this show has to do with what happened, anyway?" Chassy asked as she looked the box over. It seemed normal enough to her, if a bit dated. Mirai grinned, snatching up the remote.

"Why don't we watch and find out?"

* * *

"We only got through three episodes," Mirai pouted at her sister.

"We'll keep going tonight, I promise," Chassy said as she led the way to the park. They had managed to rendezvous briefly during lunch, at which time they decided that a secluded part of the park would probably be the best place to try to get back to the Digital World.

"It sounds like it gives us something to work with, at least," Jonah said. "The Digital World itself seems pretty similar from what you've described."

"Does that make those Digimon we met yesterday our partners?" Haruki asked. "I hope so, I liked Cutemon."

"Partners, huh?" Taki muttered.

"Well we won't know for sure unless we can get back!" Mirai said hastily. "Anyone have any ideas on how to summon that light?"

"Why don't you try that app you used to get us home yesterday?" Taki suggested. "Or even just that 'Digivice' app or whatever. I got that one, too."

It turned out that they all had. Mirai was the first to try it out and was only mildly surprised to see her phone warp into the device she had in the Digital World the day before. At least now she knew that it was called a Digivice. The others followed suit, and soon they all had located the app Mirai claimed she had pressed: a round portal looking icon labeled "Gate".

"I propose we hold hands this time," Chassy said when Mirai looked for confirmation to proceed. She grabbed Jonah's hand in with her left and used her right to link her arm around Mirai's. Taki then placed himself between Jonah and Haruki, leaving Haruki to grab Mirai's other arm. They somehow managed to keep hold of their own Digivices, which all reacted when Mirai activated the gate.

The light engulfed them once again, but this time Mirai found comfort knowing that Chassy and Haruki, at least, were definitely with her. The group was deposited in the clearing they left the day before. Their landing was unsteady, but they were able to remain standing. The clearing was much the same as they had left it, the dirt and leaves still disturbed from the previous day's fight. The Digimon themselves were nowhere to be seen. With the village visible a short distance away, they decided it would be the best place to go.

"How did things go with Chika today?" Chassy asked once they had started walking.

"Better, I think, but do you have any idea of how far your reputation reaches?" Chassy shook her head, and Mirai sighed. "It sounds like even the elementary school students know you're popular. Or have you just been this popular your whole life?"

"Whole life," Taki said, arms behind his head and sounding none-too-impressed. "It's so unreal it's annoying."

"You're just upset that it meant everyone was staring when she returned that CD you left at her house," Haruki teased. Taki turned a fine shade of scarlet.

"I am not! Why should I care about something like that? It was years ago!"

"I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble," Chassy said sincerely. "I really wish people wouldn't stare."

"I noticed my fair share of stares today," Mirai sighed. "Seems like our departure yesterday was hot gossip."

"You get used to it," Jonah said.

"Do you?" Taki asked. His tone earned him a glare from Jonah. He shoved his hands in his pockets and grumbled. "I'm just saying! Sorry."

"People will get bored and move on soon," Haruki reassured Mirai. "Chastity's popularity may be pretty stable, but I think it's pretty superficial, so people don't pay much attention to the people around her. They just look at her and don't see much else, you know?"

Jonah scoffed, but did not say anything further.

"By Chika, did you mean Koeno?" Haruki asked quickly, and Mirai nodded, relieved for the change of subject. She did not like thinking about her sister being objectified by the whole school. It was too weird. "She was in class with me and Taki last year. She seems nice, but I never really talked with her much."

"She's pretty shy," Mirai said, already fond of the girl. "Maybe we should start with having lunch together tomorrow, just the first years?"

"Sounds good to me," Haruki said. "I can come to your classroom if that's easiest."

Mirai beamed at him and nodded enthusiastically. _Operation: Win Taki's Heart_ might succeed after all. She just had to be careful about who she included in activities. Start small, with former classmates eating lunch together. She was still lost in thought as they came upon the village, so she didn't register her name being called until Dracomon barreled into her.

"You came back! Where did you go yesterday?" Dracomon asked excitedly as he backed up enough to look up at her. The other Digimon swarmed them, all asking similar questions in rapid fire.

"Slow down, slow down! One at a time, now," Chassy said. The Digimon looked at each other, and then at Dracomon, as he had been the first to reach the group of humans. He repeated his original question.

"We went back home, to Earth," Mirai said. "I didn't mean to make us leave so suddenly. We're still figuring out our Digivices. Oh, uh, these things," Mirai added as she waved hers around for them to see.

This set off a new wave of questions, ones that the children struggled to answer. They were still very much in the dark themselves, and they were not so sure about sharing their discovery about the Digimon franchise on Earth just yet.

"Is there something you want to say?" Jonah asked suddenly, addressing someone a short distance past the group. Mirai looked up and saw Gotsumon standing there nervously, clearly caught off-guard by being addressed. He kicked at the ground a bit, careful to avoid looking at their faces.

"Sorry about yesterday," he muttered. "Things are kinda hazy, but I shouldn't have attacked you. So sorry about that."

"He apologized to us already," Dracomon explained quietly to Mirai. "He's been a bit of a bully lately, but that's water under the bridge now."

"We should go introduce you all to the village elder," Floramon said, tugging on Chassy's sleeve. "He simply refused to believe that we had encountered humans."

"Yeah, let's go prove to Jijimon that we're not lying!" Dracomon said, fluttering his wings. He looked indignant for a solid two seconds before he took off excitedly, leading them through the village.

The buildings were scarcely taller than the humans, and Mirai really hoped that they would not have to all try to squeeze into one. It made sense though, as the Digimon that came out to see them were no taller than Gotsumon, and he only came up to her waist. Mirai tried to ignore the stares and excited whispers, having had enough of that at school. From what Mirai learned last night, she would guess that she was mostly looking at Baby II and Child level Digimon (whatever those terms meant), and she figured from their perspective they were the equivalent of unicorns just casually walking through their village.

A few of the Digimon approached them with questions, only to be shoo-ed away by Dracomon and the others with the promise that they could talk after visiting Jijimon. This did little to get the villagers to leave, as many of them chose to follow them in excitement. Haruki, like Mirai, looked overwhelmed by the attention, and Mirai was impressed that Cutemon managed to stay securely on top of his head with how much he was swinging it around. Jonah was clearly taken aback by the attention, but did not seem displeased, only confused. Next to her, Chassy looked right at home as she exchanged pleasantries with the Digimon she passed.

When Mirai looked back, she saw that Taki was weaving oddly through the crowd. Kudamon miraculously stayed at his heels, and Mirai could not help but wonder if he was not attempting to put a bit of distance between himself and the small Digimon. She frowned. Sooner or later he was going to trip.

"Lookit, Jijimon! I told you we saw Humans!" Dracomon said, drawing Mirai's attention forward once again. Before them was a large, round building, easily large enough to house them all and then some. She was surprised that she had not noticed it before, as it was a good deal taller than the rest of the dwellings in the village. The entrance, too, was taller, and Mirai figured that it must have been built with visitors in mind. Certainly, it dwarfed Jijimon, who now stood in front of it.

"So you did, young ones." Jijimon looked up at the children; or at least, Mirai thought he did, but it was hard to tell through his bushy hair. "Do come in. I would like to speak to all of you."

The five kids filed in and sat on the floor at Jijimon's invitation. As expected, their Digimon companions sat next to each of them in turn. Gotsumon sat off to the side, and Jijimon remained standing in front of all of them.

"I wish I could say I was happy to see you," Jijimon began, "but in truth your arrival concerns me greatly. Legends speak of Humans as powerful warriors that defend our world against evil, but none have been seen in almost a thousand years; the Olympians have maintained relative peace in that time. If you have been called to our world despite this, then it is most likely in grave danger."

"What kind of danger?" Chassy asked nervously.

"Wait! Who are the Olympians?" Taki asked. "They sound old and important."

"They are indeed 'old and important,' as you say," Jijimon harrumphed. "They are the rulers of the Digital World, the ones who brought order when there was chaos. Lunaria, the land in which you stand, is ruled over by the great Dianamon. But as for the danger, I am afraid I cannot-"

The building began to tremble, causing Jijimon to catch himself on his staff. Panicked shouts could be heard outside. Everyone fled the building when it sounded like it was hit by something. Once outside, the source of the panic became immediately apparent. There were three huge, grotesque dragonflies attacking the village, alternating between streams of electricity and some sort of energy beam. Mirai failed to suppress a shiver as she remembered the Flymon from the day before.

"Yanmamon!? Where did they come from?" Jijimon cried. Before he could say anything further, Taki had hoisted him onto his back and ran to get him out of harm's way. Mirai wanted to scold him for running from a fight, but he was helping someone else and running away did not sound like such a bad idea.

Dracomon did not share Mirai's fear, immediately climbing onto the roof of a nearby building so he could try to hit their attackers. Mirai cursed as his Baby Breath attack did little more than annoy the Yanmamon, who dodged by flying just out of reach of Dracomon's attack. Mirai looked around for help. Jonah and Pandamon were protecting the fleeing villagers from attacks and debris, while Haruki and Cutemon helped move the smaller, slower Digimon to safety. Kudamon, at least, soon joined Dracomon, his Holy Shot seeming to do some damage to the Yanmamon when it actually hit.

"Chastity, throw me! I should be able to slow them down if I can just get close!" Floramon said, pumping her fists. Chastity nodded and picked Floramon up. Throws had never been her specialty in dance, but Floramon was small enough she figured she could at least get Floramon up there. She turned this way and that, but each time she got ready to throw her target would move.

"They're too fast! There isn't anywhere for me to aim."

"What?" Mirai said, turning to look at her sister. "Don't we have any way to slow them down or corral them?"

"None of us in the village can fly," Floramon said, despondent. "Dracomon has wings, but..."

A blast caught their attention, and Mirai looked up just in time to see Dracomon and Kudamon go flying as they suffered a direct hit. Kudamon, small as he was, was knocked out cold, but Dracomon still struggled to stand. He blearily saw Mirai's feet stamp past him and turned to see what she was doing. She scooped up as many rocks and debris as she could as she ran, eventually sliding to a halt some distance away. To Dracomon's horror, she started throwing rocks at the Yanmamon.

"Over here, you overgrown sticks with wings! You give dragons a bad name!" Mirai shouted at them as she attacked again and again.

"Mirai, are you crazy? What do you think you're doing?" Chastity asked, panic slipping into her voice.

"Drawing their fire, what does it look like?" Mirai shouted back. Indeed, the Yanmamon turned their attention to her once the rocks started finding their targets. She did not stop throwing even as she backed up, leading the Yanmamon away from the villagers. Dracomon stumbled to his feet. Rocks were starting to rain down around him, and he saw that Mirai was quickly running out of ammo. Mirai was his friend, his partner, he needed to protect her...

Mirai's Digivice started to glow, and Dracomon along with it. A lightbulb went off in Mirai's head, and she dropped the rest of her rocks to grab her Digivice. Instead of the symbol from the day before, "Digivolve?" was flashing on the screen. Seeing no other option, she pressed the main button, and her Digivice released an ear-splitting wail. For a moment, it looked like some of the rocks around Dracomon's feet started to glow as well, but the light that engulfed Dracomon drowned out any other glow that might have been in the vicinity.

When the light faded, a much larger dragon had taken Dracomon's place. His wings were far larger now, and he gave them a great flap as he pushed off the ground and after the Yanmamon. The Yanmamon scattered, but Mirai's partner had no trouble keeping up, swiftly grabbing one with his claws and throwing it into one of the others. She cheered.

"Who is _that?"_ Jonah asked as he ran up with Chassy. It seemed that most of the villagers had successfully evacuated.

"That's Dracomon! Well, right now he's..." Mirai said ecstatically before trailing off, realizing she had no idea what this new Digimon was called. She thought Digimon were supposed to announce the name of their new form, like Greymon and Garurumon did in the show. She certainly hadn't heard her partner say anything, so maybe that was just a convenience of television. She glanced at her Digivice and saw an app that resembled an information icon flashing. She tapped it, and a picture of the dragon appeared, along with information about his attacks and stats. "Oh! He's Coredramon now. Isn't he the coolest?"

Coredramon dodged the attacks of the third Yanmamon as he charged. Once he was close enough, he used his tail to flick his opponent to where the other two were still trying to reorient themselves. Now that the three were all gathered in one spot, Coredramon inhaled, puffing out his chest.

"Blue Flare Breath!"

He exhaled a burst of flames the most gorgeous blue Mirai had ever seen. She could feel the heat from below, but she could not bring herself to look away. The flames engulfed the offending Yanmamon, who released screams of pain. They fell from the sky, charred and smoking, but what caught Mirai's eye was the black cloud that seemed to be flickering in and out around them. She ran to get close, Digivice in hand. The cloud reminded her too much of that shadowy aura she had seen around Golemon the day before.

This time, her Digivice did not glow or release a shrill screech as she got close. She closed the information window and quickly scanned the apps available to her. One of them bore a symbol similar to the one that appeared before. She tapped it, and the symbol filled her screen. It was a geometric symbol, sort of like a bunch of diamonds arranged to look like a water drop, or maybe a flame. Once she thought she was close enough, Mirai pressed the button and turned the screen to the falling Yanmamon.

Light poured out of the Digivice, and once it faded, a trio of small, larval insect Digimon were falling in place of the Yanmamon. Mirai made to catch them, but Coredramon was faster. He caught them before they could hit the ground. He carefully landed and lowered them to make sure they would not be injured further. He de-Digivolved with a small flash, but before he could get his bearings again he was scooped up into a crushing hug from Mirai.

"Dracomon you were so cool!" she cheered, making Dracomon blush.

"Thanks, it was nuthin'," he said. "You were in trouble. I had to help somehow."

"Is it over?" Chassy asked as she cautiously approached with Floramon. Kudamon was cradled in her arms, though he seemed to be awake. Jonah and Pandamon were not far behind.

"I think so," Mirai said as she set Dracomon down on the ground. She cast a worried glance at the fallen Digimon. They were not as wounded as Mirai would have expected, but they were still out cold. "Do you think the same thing that happened to Gotsumon happened to them?"

"If that is the case, then I was right to be worried," a gruff voice said from behind them. Jijimon, flanked by Taki, Haruki and Cutemon, approached them. "From what I saw, it looked like those Kunemon were infected with a powerful, evil virus that caused them to Digivolve."

"So that's what we have to fight, huh?" Taki mused.

"I would say so."

"Is there anything we can do to help fix things up?" Haruki asked, looking around at the destruction. Luckily most of the structures were still relatively intact, but it would take some time to clean up.

"We would not refuse your help today," Jijimon said, also evaluating the damage. "But I believe your mission lies elsewhere. The Digital World is far larger than this single village. Starting tomorrow, you ought to see what this world truly has to offer. I suggest working your way Northeast, to Lunaria's capital. You are more likely to learn of the state of the world there than in a small village out in the sticks."

They thanked Jijimon for his advice and set about helping repair the village. They discussed travel options as they worked. Taki suggested that they might be able to gate directly to the capital, but that plan was ultimately dependent on a lot of trial-and-error in figuring out how to use their Digivices, if it would work at all. Based on their current experience, they would probably gate in to wherever they gated out from, so at the very least they could pick up their partner Digimon the next day at the village and head out from there. After that they would have to figure it out on the fly.

By the time they left, the village was in a livable state once again. They said goodbye to their partners and prepared the gate. Chassy insisted they link arms again to be safe. Just as the light burst from their Digivices, Mirai caught a rush of movement to her side, but did not get the chance to see what it was before she and the others were deposited in the park in the human world. She really wished she had noticed even a second sooner, because there, in the middle of their circle, Dracomon was beaming up at her.

* * *

"We're home!" Chassy called, somewhat loudly, and Zoya was startled to hear a great clatter on the stairs. She came out into the hallway to get a look, and she could have sworn she saw a blue tail disappear into Mirai's room. She did not have long to stare, as Chassy inserted herself into Zoya's field of vision.

"Could Mirai and I have dessert upstairs tonight?" Chassy asked. "So we can eat it while watching Digimon?"

"That's fine with me," Zoya said, taken aback. "I'm glad you two seem to be enjoying it. By the way, were you hanging out with your friends again? I hope Mirai wasn't waiting for you after dance club."

"Oh, yeah, we were!" Chassy said. Thinking quickly, she added, "We're thinking of forming an outdoors club. There's lots to explore around here, so…"

"That sounds like a lot of fun," Zoya said absently, casting another glance up the stairs even as Chassy ushered her back into the kitchen, offering to help with dinner.

"Yeah, so since we'll spending so much time outside, we'll probably start bringing a change of clothes with us in an extra bag, maybe even our sneakers?" Chastity said as she washed vegetables. She was more distracted than Zoya had ever seen her as she rattled off preparations for this club. It sounded unusually involved for an afterschool club.

"What exactly do you plan on doing in this club?" Zoya asked with a chuckle. "Because I feel like a walking club would be more your speed, Chassy."

"Oh, well, it was Mirai's idea, really," Chassy said, suddenly _very_ interested in the carrot she was holding. "Hiking, camping skills, maybe survival stuff? Definitely survival stuff. You know how she is. Takes after Mama."

Zoya was not entirely convinced, but it _did_ sound like the sort of thing Mirai would come up with, especially if Taki was influencing her. His mom always said he was a handful. She knew she should be worried, but they did not put their kids through martial arts practice every morning just to fret over a new hobby, especially not one that involved the outdoors. With the way the neighbors went on and on about trying to get their children away from their computers, she ought to be grateful. She forced any concerns to the back of her mind and focused on making them all a healthy, hearty dinner.

Taeko and Zoya had never seen the girls eat so quickly. They asked for seconds (a rarity from Chassy) and then practically begged to be allowed to finish upstairs, impatient as they were to get back to Digimon. Taeko was more than happy to comply, even helping them gather their things, but as the girls ran upstairs her suspicion made itself plain on her face.

"They're hiding something from us," Zoya said once she heard the door to Chassy's room click shut. It was painful to admit. "If it was just Mirai I would understand, but Chastity? She comes to me for everything."

"I could understand if it was just the club. What gets me is their sudden interest in Digimon. Chastity never showed any interest, even when she was younger."

"Get this – I'm pretty sure I saw a tail disappear into Mirai's room when they got home. They were pretty intent on getting food up there." Zoya paused. "I'm almost afraid to hope. Lately I've been asking myself if it really was a dream, after all."

"Don't you start, too."

"It's just that so much time has passed, and no word. Even now…"

Taeko walked over, then, and wrapped her arms around Zoya.

"Have a bit more faith in your partner," she murmured. It was something Taeko had been saying for years, so Zoya's response came naturally as she gave her wife a small smile.

"Which one?"

* * *

Mirai had a hard time convincing Dracomon to hide in her closet while she and Chassy had morning practice. Zoya had never invaded her privacy, but it was her habit to come in and vacuum and gather any dirty laundry while the girls were outside. She was relieved to find him still huddled behind her shoe boxes and made a mental note to make a bed for him if he insisted on staying.

"I found a gym bag you can use," Chassy said as she quietly slipped into Mirai's room. "I have a small bag for my own things, so don't worry about me."

"What's the bag for?" Dracomon asked, sniffing at it curiously. It was one of Chassy's old dance bags, and it smelled a touch musty.

"It's for smuggling you to school in," Mirai explained. Chassy left, carefully shutting the door behind her. She looked around her room for something to attach to the bag to mark it as hers and found an old rubber strap of a cute fire-breathing dragon. Dracomon watched her carefully as she wrapped it around one of the strap loops.

"Yesterday, what did you mean when you said the Yanmamon were giving dragons a bad name?"

"Oh, well, they looked like dragonflies," Mirai laughed, embarrassed. "I guess I wasn't thinking. I just really like dragons, you know? And I couldn't stand that something with 'dragon' in its name was senselessly destroying the village like that, especially when you were trying so hard to protect it."

Dracomon ducked into the bag, just barely peeking out.

"You gotta stop making me blush," he mumbled happily.

"Mirai! I'll be outside!" Chassy called from downstairs. Mirai hurried to get Dracomon safely packed into her bag and went stumbling down the stairs, her freshly cleaned socks almost making her slip on the hardwood. She had to get out the door without being seen. There was no way she could let her Mama know about Dracomon.

She was halfway through getting her first shoe on when Taeko stepped into the entryway. Mirai cursed her luck and put on her best smile when she was inevitably addressed. She just hoped that Dracomon would not squirm.

"Mirai, I realize I'm a couple days late," Taeko began awkwardly, "but now that you've started middle school, I wanted you to have these."

Taeko held out a worn pair of goggles. The strap had recently been replaced, but otherwise Mirai recognized them as the goggles her mother wore in all of her old photos. She reached out to take them before hesitating.

"Mama, are you sure? Aren't these really important to you?"

"They are," Taeko admitted. "I have a lot of memories with these goggles. But it's about time I passed them on. They've been doing nothing but gathering dust the last few years."

"But why me? Shouldn't Chassy get them? She's the oldest."

Taeko fumbled over her words, but after a few false starts seemed to gather her thoughts.

"When I was your age, I wore these because I thought that a hero had to have goggles. Of course, that's not true," she laughed, "but I still think they're good for a leader to have. And since you're the founder of your new outdoors club, I thought they would come in handy."

Mirai mulled this over as she looked at the goggles her mother once again held out to her. She took the goggles almost reverently. They were heavier than she expected. She ran a thumb over the lenses, feeling all of the small nicks and scratches that had built up over the years. Her mother was not giving these to her lightly.

Trying not to jostle Dracomon too much, she pulled the goggles down around her neck. Taeko stepped forward and helped her get them up on her head without disturbing her hair buns. They sat there comfortably, and Mirai could not deny the confidence boost that came with them. She thanked her mother with a hug, pulled her other shoe on, and ran out the door to join Chassy.

She was finally ready for her Digimon adventure to truly begin.

* * *

 **A/N: The series that influence this fic are Adventure, 02, Appmon, and Frontier, in that order. I'm sure there's plenty of influence from the rest of the franchise, but those are the ones I consciously look at for inspiration. Just getting that out there.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Taki bit back a yawn as he moseyed over to where he had agreed to meet up with Mirai and Chastity. He had been kept up late the night before by a flurry of panicked phone messages as they tried to figure out what to do about Dracomon's unexpected visit. In the end it was decided that someone should meet up with the girls to help hide Dracomon on their way to school, and since Taki lived closest, that someone should be him.

Taki was not a morning person, and usually the only thing that got him out of bed was the chance to sneak up on Haruki before they reached campus. Hiding a small dragon from the general public sounded fun, too, but it did not mean that his body did not protest waking up early to do so.

He looked up when he heard his name called from down the street. Mirai's wave became a panicked scramble as her gym bag began to squirm, apparently excited by the arrival of a friend. Taki laughed, now thoroughly excited by the challenge of hiding Dracomon all day. Once Mirai had quieted her burden, she looked back up at Taki sheepishly, and it was then that Taki noticed her new accessory.

"What's with the goggles?" he asked, eyeing them curiously. They looked familiar, but not necessarily in a way he associated with Mirai.

"Mama gave them to me this morning; they used to belong to her," Mirai explained. She gave Taki a quick summary of her mother's rationale, which he responded to with an interested hum. Now that he thought about it, he recognized them from a group photo his mom kept in the living room.

"Mom gave me ribbons when I started middle school," Chastity explained, motioning to the red ribbon that currently adorned her hair. "Unlike Mirai's goggles, they aren't the same ones Mom wore years ago-she said hers all but disintegrated-but they're meant to be similar."

"Mirai, I still haven't gotten to see," Dracomon quietly whined. While Mirai did her best to quietly placate him, Taki carefully placed himself in front of the bag. Chastity walked a pace or two behind Mirai, so he was fairly confident that they had the bag covered from all angles. Any stray movements could be explained as Mirai readjusting.

Once they neared the school, they slowed their pace to hide themselves in the middle of the crowd of students. Their biggest concern was the teachers. Begrudgingly, Taki realized that Chastity's popularity came in handy, as it meant that she was slowly swarmed by admirers the closer they got to the gate. He schooled his face into an easy grin, chatting with Mirai about class and greeting classmates whenever he saw them. He even managed to get into a minor posturing match with one of Chastity's more persistent suitors, which attracted just enough attention to allow the girls to slip away and out of sight.

"Well, I've known Chastity since first year," the suitor bragged, trying to intimidate Taki with his size. He wanted to laugh, having known Chastity since he was a baby, but he had no interest in sharing that tidbit of information in front of so many people. "I've been one of her most loyal fans! Ask anyone!"

"Yeah, well, you must not be that devoted to her," Taki said flippantly, "or you'd have noticed she left ages ago. Anyway, later!" Taki then ducked out himself, snickering at the way everyone looked around, bewildered and disappointed by Chastity's disappearance. He checked his phone surreptitiously and followed the instructions, in a roundabout sort of way, to meet the girls at the club storage shed. He arrived just as Chastity finished unlocking the door.

"The dance club keeps its costumes and things in here," Chastity explained as she led them inside. Taki stayed near the door, leaving it open a crack to watch for anyone who might want to come in. "We don't actually access it very much, so I figure it's as good a place as any to hide Dracomon."

Mirai sat her bag down amidst the boxes Chastity indicated and carefully unzipped it. Dracomon's head immediately popped up, curious about his new surroundings.

"Your goggles look cool, Mirai!" Dracomon said, happy to see his partner. He worked himself out of the bag and looked around. "What kind of place is this? It's like a giant closet."

"It's the club storage shed," Chastity explained. "Clubs with lots of big equipment keep their things in here. Other humans might come in during the day, so you're to stay out of sight, okay, Dracomon?"

"I'll make sure to come check on you during lunch. I can get something for you from the cafeteria," Mirai promised after Dracomon nodded. "And then we'll go to the Digital World once classes are over. Oh! I don't know if you can read Japanese, but I brought some comics for you to read if you get bored. You might learn more about the human world from them."

Mirai fished the comics out of her proper school bag and handed them to Dracomon. He flipped through one of them, smiling as he did so.

"Even if I can't read them, I can still follow the pictures. Thanks, Mirai."

The three of them left the storage shed, Chastity carefully locking it behind them. She slipped the key to Mirai.

"This should get easier if we actually form that outdoors club and get a club room. If the rest of our partners decide to follow Dracomon's lead, we'll need somewhere else to hide them. We won't have nearly the privacy we need in that storage shed, and I could get in serious trouble if anyone finds out I gave you that key."

"We conveniently have five members already, so I can get the paperwork filled out today," Mirai assured her sister. "What do we do about an advisor, though?"

"Mr. Tanaka is hands-off and a little lazy, so maybe try him?" Chastity suggested with a small shrug as she turned to head to her own class. There was still some time before the bell, so Mirai and Taki wandered the halls at a leisurely pace.

"You and Dracomon get along well," Taki mused. "I take it things went well last night?"

"Dracomon rolls around in his sleep a lot, but otherwise things went pretty well, yeah." Mirai's smile faltered a bit, and from the apologetic, pitying look she gave him, he knew what she was going to say before she even said it. "You don't seem to like Kudamon much."

He chewed his lip and looked away. It was something he did not want to talk about. Not at school, at any rate.

"You should try to give him a chance," Mirai said gently. "He seems to like you. And from what little I know, I would guess that the Digital World had a reason for pairing the two of you up. It wouldn't just summon ineffective protectors."

She laughed a little at the end, but sighed when Taki refused to see the humor. She changed the subject, something about the other girls in class, but Taki tuned her out. He knew he was being too harsh on someone he had only meant two days ago and had been nothing but friendly, but he just could not get over the fact that he had been paired with a Holy Beast Digimon.

Taki was never one for religion. But while the fact that Kudamon was "Holy" made him a little uncomfortable, it would have been easy enough to ignore over time. The Digital World probably had totally different religions from Earth, after all. No, what bothered him most was how Kudamon's attacks seemed to involve holy light. Taki did not like the light; it was almost painful with how bright it was. What was the word his mom used? Photosensitive, that was it. The light that came out of their Digivices each time they gated between worlds was bad enough. He did not want to deal with Kudamon on top of that.

Mirai meant well. She always went out on a limb for her friends, and as the only person who might have known Taki better than he knew himself, her advice was not to be easily dismissed. But she sure was eager to make friends with everyone. Taki watched as she went to chat with Koeno once they entered the classroom, probably telling her their lunch plans. Koeno kept throwing cautious glances his way, and each time she saw him looking back she hurriedly turned away like she had just been scolded. Weird.

"Oi, Taki, word on the street is you've been making passes at the Chastity. You crazy or what?"

"More like I'd be crazy to be interested," Taki grinned at his classmate, happy to get away from his thoughts. "She's practically family. Which is why I have made it my duty to make sure that any potential suitors can keep up. Same goes for Mirai. Anyone who wants do date her has to go through me." He jabbed his thumb at himself with a wink. It was an off-hand joke, but he really wished he had considered where he was when he said it. Hadn't they just been talking about school gossip yesterday?

"Taki Minami, what is this I hear about people having to go through you if they want to date me? Are you really dumb enough to think that you need to protect me?" Mirai asked as she commandeered his desk for lunch. "Chassy can handle her own suitors, too, for that matter, but she has so many I'm sure she won't complain if you take a few off her hands."

"I was just joking when I said that!"

"Maybe, but now people are going to think you like-like me and that's gross. I don't know how you managed to fool your classmates, but you are not cool and awesome or however it is you sell yourself. You're the kid I used to dispatch easily when we'd wrestle in the sandbox."

Taki's face heated up, and he blurted, "You wanna try me?"

Koeno stood nearby uncertainly, finally deciding to drag over Mirai's desk to make more room for them to eat. She quietly unpacked her lunch, not daring to interrupt. Taki was too embarrassed by what Mirai was saying to pay much attention to her, and only really processed that she was there at all when Haruki arrived and sat next to her.

"It's good to see you again, Koeno," Haruki said with an easy smile. She offered up a small smile of her own and nodded a greeting. "Have you thought about what club you want to join?"

"Not really, no," Koeno admitted. "Mirai was telling me that you're all thinking of forming an outdoors club, but I'm not very athletic, so I'm afraid I'll have to pass."

Oh. Taki and Mirai shared a look. They had not considered what they would do if other people wanted to join the club. Making the club official through the school suddenly seemed like a bad idea. They would have to check with Chastity and Jonah about other, less official, options.

Mirai went back to chatting with Haruki and Koeno, but Taki saw the way that her leg bounced impatiently under the desk and her eyes kept darting to the clock on the wall.

"Mirai, wasn't there something Chastity wanted you to do?" Taki asked. Mirai looked at him in confusion for a moment, before her eyes lit up with understanding.

"Oh yeah, sorry guys, I've got to bail for a little bit. I'll be back soon," she said, jumping up out of her seat and bounding over to the door.

"She sure has a lot of energy," Haruki commented. "I'm going to have a hard time keeping up. What were you two even arguing about when I got here?"

"She thinks she can beat me in a fight," Taki said, trying to sound indignant or insulted. It came out as more of pout, which caused Haruki to snicker. "It's been over a year! I've gotten way better, just wait."

"I believe in you," Chika said into her food. "You did always excel in P.E."

"I dunno," Haruki teased. "P.E. might be your best subject, but I'm guessing Mirai actually practices instead of slacking off like you do."

"You're making me look bad, Haruki." Not that anyone besides Koeno was listening to their conversation, and she seemed very, very absorbed in her food. It was a simple meal, mostly flavored rice with a few sausages. His eyes strayed over to Haruki's lunch box, and while he had made quick work of it, Taki could still tell that it was considerably more elaborate and, if he had to guess, more nutritious. He never had gotten around to talking to Haruki about his interest in the cooking club, seeing as how they had all gotten distracted by the Digital World. Idly, he wondered what he would feed Kudamon if the little guy followed him home the same way Dracomon had followed Mirai.

After school, they carefully smuggled Dracomon off campus and to the park, where they gated back to the village in the Digital World. While the other Digimon scolded Dracomon for running off on his own, Mirai and Chastity slipped off to one of the houses to change out of their school uniforms. Taki was less concerned about getting his uniform dirty, so he just took his jacket off and shoved it in his bag.

"Are you really going to carry all that extra stuff with you every day?" Jonah asked, eyeing the gym bag Mirai had forced off on Chastity. Mirai's eyes twinkled as she pulled out her Digivice.

"Watch this!" She pressed a few buttons and the bag became a small orb of light that disappeared into the device. "There's a storage function on this thing! Although now it says it's 87% full, so I guess we can't just lug camping gear around with us."

"What, did you find a manual or something?" Taki asked.

"Of sorts? In the information app, there's a list of all the other apps with short descriptions, but it doesn't say how to use them. I found it last night when I was showing Coredramon's info to Dracomon."

"These things sure are handy," Haruki said, looking his over. He went ahead and stored his school bag, the others following suit.

"They're certainly better than the ones we've seen in the show," Chastity said. "All we've seen out of them so far is Digivolution. They're much smaller, as well."

"We need to get moving," Pandamon interrupted. "It will take quite some time to reach the capital, and we only have a few hours each day. We must make the most of it."

The Digimon bid farewell to the rest of the villagers and they went on their way. Jijimon had pointed them northeast, and now Mirai happily led the way. She and Chastity filled the rest in on what they had been learning about the Digimon show, although Chastity admitted that they were only seven episodes in so far. Floramon and Kudamon took turns confirming the existence and basic details of the Digimon as the girls described them, surprised and curious to learn that the human world knew so much about them.

The jungle seemed to go on forever and the scenery was shockingly repetitive, so Taki's attention wandered to his companions. Kudamon kept glancing up at him, but seemed to have otherwise settled into walking along at his side. Taki pretended not to notice. Mirai was engrossed in a conversation with Dracomon about the comics she had lent him while Chastity and Haruki cheerfully chatted with each other and their partners. Cutemon was the only one not walking, choosing instead to ride on Haruki's shoulder. Glancing back, Taki got the feeling that Pandamon took his job as rear-guard very seriously, like a child who had been entrusted with his first errand. On the other hand, "on guard" seemed to be Jonah's default state, so Taki found the contrast amusing.

Everyone else was getting along with their partners except for him. He looked down at Kudamon, who looked back expectantly. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to his partner, but clamped it shut when the only things to come to mind were his bitter feelings towards fate. He tried to think of small talk, but he was competitive by nature so everything he thought up came across in his mind as an insult. Annoyed, he fixed his gaze on the path ahead. An unusual stump in the distance gave him an idea.

"Race you to that stump, Mirai!" he shouted as he ran past her. She let out a sound of protest and gave chase. She may have been stronger, but Taki was usually faster. He would not let Mirai get away with trash-talking him at school. What he did not count on was Kudamon being able to keep pace.

"Taki, wait! You shouldn't go running off!"

"Don't be such a worrywart," Taki shot back. He was staying on the path, so it was not like he could get lost. He could hear Mirai a short distance behind him, and while he was confident in his ability to win, he did not want to risk looking back. He was almost to the stump. Just one last good push...

"Taki, look-"

Kudamon's warning did not come fast enough, as a branch shot out of the stump and crashed into both Taki and Kudamon. The stump uprooted itself, and as Taki struggled to get back to his feet, he saw that the stump was in fact a Digimon and the branch one of its arms. It struck the ground, and it was only then, as the ground began to crumble, that Taki realized that he had landed on the edge of a drop-off.

The fall hurt more than he expected, as he tumbled through a lot of underbrush before he managed to come to a stop. He looked up to where he had fallen, but while he could see the destruction he had made in his fall, he could not see the path above, nor the Digimon that attacked him.

"Taki, are you okay?" Mirai called. "Where are you?"

"I'm fine! And I'm not sure, but I can't see you."

"Is Kudamon with you?"

"I'm here," Kudamon answered as he freed himself from a nearby shrub. "Where's Woodmon?"

There was quiet for a minute before Mirai answered.

"Ran off," she said with a hint of uncertainty. "Stay alert. Think you can make it back up the hill?"

Taki looked up at where he fell, and while he could not see Mirai, he could see the foot of the drop-off he fell from. From where he stood, it looked too steep and unstable for him to be able to climb back up.

"Not from here. Think you could send Coredramon to get us?"

There was silence again, for longer this time, and Taki only figured out what was taking so long when he heard a frustrated shout of "Why won't it work!?" He was not surprised when Mirai's voice traveled down to him again letting him know that she could not figure out how to get Dracomon to Digivolve.

"We'll look for another way back to the path," Kudamon answered.

Mirai confirmed that they heard and would wait for Taki and Kudamon to find their way back. Neither direction seemed more promising than the other, so Taki picked one at random and started walking. Kudamon darted past his feet and up along the side of the hill. Ever eager, he stopped and turned back to Taki.

"I'm a little nimbler than you, so I'll scout ahead and look for any sort of path we might be able to take back up."

"Yeah, sure."

Kudamon was very diligent, darting back and forth along the hill, looking for any sort of stable foot-hold Taki could use to climb back up. Taki was able to try a few of them, but they ultimately proved fruitless when they failed to either support his weight or give him enough of a boost to reach something else. The drop-off ever so gradually appeared to be becoming less steep, and more than once Taki spotted routes that Kudamon would have made short work of. When he pointed them out, Kudamon simply shook his head and pointed out that they were still too steep for Taki to climb.

"Why don't you just go ahead and climb up by yourself? I can find my own way back to the path," Taki said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I'm just holding you back."

"Don't say that," Kudamon said with a frown. "We need to stick together. After all, I'm your partner. I need to protect you."

"Says who? I don't need protection and I certainly never wanted you to be my partner!" Taki snapped. Kudamon looked stricken, and Taki regretted his words immediately. Kudamon didn't deserve that. After all, the little guy probably didn't have any more choice in the matter than Taki himself did, and now he was stuck down here because of it. Taki opened his mouth to apologize, but the words caught and Kudamon turned away, deflated.

They walked in silence. All of Kudamon's previous gusto had evaporated. Taki turned his attention to the sky, cursing his stupid mouth. It had no trouble spitting out the stupid things he had been trying to not say, but the moment he needed to say something important, like an apology, it refused to work. His mouth felt dry, like he needed a drink. The red tint to the clouds he glimpsed through the trees told him that they would need to return to Earth soon. How long had they been walking? He turned his attention back to Kudamon with a sigh. It might be now or never.

"Kudamon, I-" Taki started, but faltered. What was he even going to say? He could apologize for being too harsh, but he had said the truth. He really was mismatched with Kudamon; that much was obvious to him now. There was no way a nice little guy like Kudamon should be paired up with a jerk like him.

"Leaf Slider!"

A flurry of leaves blew at him from his left. He had scarcely processed what was happening when Kudamon, despite his small size, knocked him away from the attack. Taki watched in horror as the blade-like leaves sliced through Kudamon's hide. Kudamon collapsed on the ground, limp and bloody. Carefully, ever so carefully, Taki scooped his partner up in a protective embrace, not caring that Woodmon could attack him again any moment. Kudamon was hurt and it was his fault.

"Kudamon, I'm sorry. I said such a horrible thing and you protected me anyway," Taki whispered. His voice was watery, and he could not help the tears that streaked down his face. He didn't deserve Kudamon. "I never meant to hurt you like that. I'm so, so sorry."

Kudamon stirred slightly in his arms, and Taki did what he could to make sure he would be comfortable and protected. It was Taki's turn to do the protecting. He slowly stood and turned to face Woodmon.

"How dare you hurt Kudamon," Taki said darkly. Woodmon smirked at him, but Taki stood firm, shifting only to ready himself for battle. He had to get Kudamon help, but he would have to get past Woodmon first. It would be hard with Kudamon in his arms, but he figured he could at least smash his foot through Woodmon's smug grin and make a run for it.

His pocket began to glow, enveloping Kudamon and then himself. It was warm and soft and, unlike Woodmon, he felt no instinct to cover his eyes. Instead, his instincts guided his hand to his pocket, where it found his Digivice. If there was one thing he learned from watching Mirai the past two days, it was that when your Digivice starts to glow, you should press the big, round button.

This time, he did have to shield his eyes as the glow surrounding Kudamon became blinding. He released his partner and stepped back, not wanting to be in the way if Kudamon's new form was as large as Coredramon.

Woodmon did not wait to find out what Kudamon had Digivolved into, extending his spear-like branches at the fading glow. Arms still in front of his eyes, Taki only saw the faintest of movements before the branches split apart into neatly cut segments. The first thing Taki could make out was a giant blade with an eye. It glanced at him, then back ahead to Woodmon. The blade was attached like a tail to his partner, who now looked like a fox wearing a mask. None of the wounds Kudamon had suffered were present on this new Digimon.

"Are you hurt?"

It took Taki a moment to realize he was being spoken to, too in awe of the Digivolution process to be paying attention.

"I'm fine thanks to you," Taki said, relief evident in his voice. "Now what do you say we teach Woodmon a lesson?"

His partner was off in a shot, charging Woodmon and attacking with his claws. While the two scuffled, Taki looked to his Digivice for information about Kudamon's Digivolution.

"Reppamon, huh?" he mused as he looked between the info-graphic and his partner. None of the listed attacks sounded like they involved bursts of light. "Still a Holy Beast Digimon, but I think we can make this work."

Reppamon separated from Woodmon when the other began to show signs of infection. Woodmon began to attack randomly, enraged at how much trouble Reppamon was giving him. Taki, narrowly dodging a wayward blast of leaves, took refuge behind a bush while Reppamon climbed up a nearby tree. Taki swiped furiously through his phone, looking for the app Mirai had pointed out to all of them the day prior. He activated it and waited for Reppamon to land a finishing blow.

Reppamon leapt from tree to tree, dodging Woodmon's attacks with ease. Even enraged from the virus, he was gradually slowing down, and once he stopped to catch his breath, Reppamon somersaulted out of his tree and struck Woodmon with the blade of his tail. Woodmon was knocked unconscious, and Taki took his chance. The purifying light burst forth and chased away the infection.

"Is he going to be okay?" Taki asked, surveying the damage. Reppamon sniffed his downed opponent carefully, looking for major wounds, but found none.

"He should be fine in a day or two. Woodmon are tough. Even my blade has trouble against their main bodies."

"That's good. And... Reppamon? I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It might take some getting used to, but I'm glad you're my partner."

"Apology accepted," Reppamon said. "Now what do you say we get out of here? Climb on!"

Taki happily obliged. Reppamon found the largest tree in the area, and dug his claws in to the bark to climb up. Taki clung to his partner's back for dear life as he charged up the tree, the coarse fur an unexpected comfort. Reppamon took a sharp turn on to a long branch, and Taki's heart skipped a beat as they leapt into the open air. It was exhilarating – the wind through his hair, the momentary weightlessness, the closeness with his partner – and it was over far too soon as they landed on the path above.

In the interest of time, Reppamon ran them back the way they had come. He ran out of steam after a few minutes and de-Digivolved back into a very tired Kudamon. Taki offered to carry him as thanks. Kudamon cautiously worked his way around Taki's neck like a scarf. Taki would probably never admit it, but this felt much better than when Kudamon was trotting along beside him. It was almost... natural.

Once they were reunited, Mirai's concern broke into a smile as she looked between the two.

"Well something happened," she said, playfully punching his arm. "I'm glad you worked it out."

"Whatever happened, it set us back today," Jonah said. He looked around at the jungle path they still stood on. "We need to leave soon and this is a bad place for the Digimon to camp for the night."

Taki glanced at Kudamon, thinking about how nice it was to have the little Digimon draped across his shoulders. An idea came to him, and he turned back to the others with a wide grin.

"Well… why don't they come home with us?"

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this is a little later than I had planned. Took me a while to be properly happy with it. As usual, please review!**


End file.
